


Small

by CrimeAlley1048



Category: Batfamily - Fandom, Batman (Comics), Batman and Robin (Comics), DCU (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-13
Updated: 2015-07-13
Packaged: 2018-04-09 05:32:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4335785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrimeAlley1048/pseuds/CrimeAlley1048
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>De-age Tim</p>
            </blockquote>





	Small

**Author's Note:**

> I... honestly hate the de-age concept, but I got a request so

For something that should have been literally impossible, it happened a lot. Bruce wasn’t sure why— maybe it was a side effect of hanging around the super-powered. Maybe it was just part of the Gotham charm. Maybe it was the universe trying to make up for the odd fact that although he had many children, he’d never had a _small_ child.  
Whatever it was, it was annoying, and he didn’t really know how to handle it— “it” being his (usually) teenaged son wrapped around his legs, looking like he couldn’t be a day over three years old old.  
Bruce didn’t know how that happened, and frankly? He probably didn’t want to. It was going to be one of those days that they all tried to forget— if only for Tim’s sake. This sort of thing was always embarrassing.  
“Look, I called Zatanna, okay? She’ll be here as soon as she can.” Bruce tried to pry Tim away from his knees, but the kid was having none of it. He kept his face buried in Bruce’s slacks.  
“Do you want to talk about it?” Silence. “Do you want me to get you something?” No response.  
“Alright, come on.” Bruce sat down in the nearest armchair, lifted Tim from the ground, and set him on his own chest— the child immediately curled up over Bruce’s heart.  
Oh. Okay. That was very, _very_ cute. Bruce held as still as he could, watching Tim’s head bob up and down in time to his breathing. Was he going to fall asleep? Bruce wouldn’t mind if he did.  
It always felt wrong, seeing his kids like this. He had trouble with the concept of childhood— he hadn’t exactly been around for Tim’s, or any of the others’. Sometimes he wondered what life would be like if he had been. Bruce glanced down at Tim, resting on top of him; would they have done this every night?  
He was used to thinking of his children as people who appeared, close to full-grown, and became adults far too quickly— not as, well, actual children. But all of them must have been real kids for years. They must have cuddled with their first parents and spoken in tiny, broken sentences.  
Bruce felt the familiar hollowness in his chest that came from thinking about children and their parents. He wondered idly if Tim could feel it too, but the toddler didn’t seem disturbed. He was still lying there peacefully—  
Until the door slammed and voices started echoing through the house. Tim’s head jerked up, and he slid out of Bruce’s lap as Dick and Damian wandered into the living room, chattering away.  
“I’m not saying you have to smile, I’m just saying that if you didn’t glare at everybody, they might— oh my god.” Dick froze just inside the doorway. “Tim? How in the hell—”  
“That’s Drake?”  
Tim took one look at Damian and hid behind Bruce’s chair. He poked the top of his head around the corner and whispered, just loud enough for Bruce to hear, “He’s _mean_.”  
“Is he talking about me?”  
“Damian,” Dick put a hand on his shoulder. “Be nice. He’s a little kid.”  
“So am I?”  
“Whatever you’re planning, the answer is no.”  
“Do you honestly think I would antagonize a toddler?” Damian frowned at the few inches of Tim’s face that were visible from behind the chair. “I won’t. I can be helpful. Hey, Drake, do you want to come play in my room?”  
“Nope.” Dick tightened his grip on Damian’s arm and towed him towards the kitchen. “Nope, you’re done. Let’s go.”  
Even after they left, Tim wouldn’t come out from behind his chair— Bruce was relieved when he finally heard someone knocking on the door. Zatanna. At last.  
Now he could get things back to normal.


End file.
